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Amen. Okay, we're in Isaiah 35 now, and of course we're in 34 last week. I'll just give you a quick reminder, as it kind of follows on from Isaiah 34, especially today, although I'd like to remind you what we did last time anyway, but last week, Isaiah continued to warn of God's judgment via the Assyrians coming, and this time he was warning the surrounding nations, if you remember, with the ultimate fulfillment being God's wrath upon the world, so that is still to come. We saw some pretty scary prophecies, if you remember, such as that the mountains shall be melted with their blood, that for me really stood out, and we looked at how this might be fulfilled with the sixth trump and the 200 million fire-breathing horses killing a third of the world. Pretty scary stuff, right? Isaiah spoke of Idumea, also known as Edom, and aside from it being conquered by the Assyrians and eventually desolate after 70 AD, we looked at how it could apply to the children of the flesh, the false Jews with Edom, Esau originally there representing them, as we see explained in Romans chapter 9, but also how the desolation of Edom had some parallels with the destruction of Mystery Babylon, we saw that towards the end of the chapter, and how the first fulfillment was yet more proof of God's words always coming to pass, it said in verse 14 there in Isaiah chapter 34, the wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island and the satyr shall cry to his fellow, the screech shall also shall rest there and find for herself a place of rest, there shall the great owl make her nest and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow, there shall the vultures also be gathered, everyone with her mate, seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read, no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate for my mouth it has commanded and his spirit it has gathered them and he has cast a lot for them and his hand has divided unto them by line, they shall possess it forever from generation to generation, shall they dwell therein and then Isaiah 35 verse 1 starts like this, the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose, I'd like to pray and then we're going to get started, Father thank you Lord for this chapter and the many truths we can get out of it, the talking points out of it Lord, help me to preach them clearly, accurately, boldly, please fill me with your spirit Lord, I need you to help me preach this chapter tonight Lord and help everyone to have understanding, ears, open ears to what your word's saying Lord, Jesus saying great, Amen. Okay it said the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose, so what is it that the wilderness and solitary place shall be glad for, for them etc. and I believe he's talking about the judgments of God from the previous chapter, so we saw these judgments of God and then verse 16 said this, seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read no one of these shall fail, referring to what was to happen to the surrounding nations particularly Ida Meir as we saw in the last chapter. Isaiah is saying that the judgments of God by the Assyrians will be a blessing in the long run, okay that's what I think he's saying, he said in verse 1, the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose, it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing, the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. So it's not that there was all this righteousness okay, all of these nations were living godly and then uh-oh in come those you know those evil Assyrians. So don't forget this was a judgment of God wasn't it, the Assyrians were were basically a judgment from God and we saw Isaiah preaching on various nations already about you know the stuff they were doing, the way they were behaving, we've seen him preach for example that list of woes on Babylon, Moab, Egypt, Ethiopia, Tyre, he was preaching about their pride, their haughtiness, he's preaching about their idolatry and things like this and how they were going to get punished for all of these things. And although some of the true fulfillments weren't solely at the hand of the Assyrians were they, so we looked at it and some of the periods of time, some of the fulfillment was going to take place later on maybe with the Babylonian empire, maybe with the Medo-Persian empire, for the Babylonians for example. The Assyrian empire was though the first of the huge empires covering the whole region and meeting out God's judgment, it was the first one, it was the initial one of that sort of size of empire, it was the biggest at the time and it was meeting out God's judgment. It was the Assyrians that ended the northern kingdom of Israel, okay so it was them that eventually ended, they got given chance after chance, eventually that was it, they were done at the hands of the Assyrians but also they carried out his judgment on surrounding nations too. However, when did the wilderness, the solitary place, the desert rejoice and blossom as we've just seen here? When did those areas rejoice with joy and singing? He said the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing, the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. Because what happened is that the Assyrians were replaced by the Babylonians, it's interesting how they literally just follow one after another, you go from the Assyrian Empire to the Babylonians, they were then replaced by the Medo-Persians, they were replaced by the Greeks who were replaced by the Romans. Did any of those places rejoice and be glad and blossom during those empires? I think ultimately no, now you could argue that there was an initial fulfilling with the return from exile under Cyrus the Great, but the glory of the Lord wasn't seen then. So we didn't yet see that, we haven't seen this ultimately fulfilled yet. So is Isaiah talking of Christ first coming here? And although some of the verses in this chapter could be applied to that, I don't think so, I think he's talking about his second coming. Verse 10 for example in this chapter says, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Okay so this is talking about Christ's second coming, he said everlasting joy, we see the joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. So speaking of the second coming, but if you think about it, have those world empires really ended? The Romans for me continued their empire from the Vatican really. I mean the Roman Empire, some might argue still going strong to some degree. I mean as things stand there are approximately 1.39 billion baptized, and they use the word loosely, but at least they came to be baptized, Catholics worldwide. That's a lot right, nearly 1.4 billion Catholics. With the following nations, I thought you might find this interesting having the highest numbers. Brazil has over 105 million Catholics, although that's apparently risen as well recently, but this is as of I think 2022 these stats. Mexico 91.2 million, the Philippines 86 million, the United States have 67 million Catholics, Italy 42 million, the Democratic Republic of Congo has 37 million, Colombia 34 million, the Netherlands 33.3 million, France 31.3 million, Poland 27.1 million. I mean that's just the top ten right, that's a lot of Catholics right, a lot of Roman Catholics. It's still big and we don't, maybe it's not as much of a thing here and we're not on that list because of the Catholic Light Church of England, which isn't a big difference anyway right, but it's still, it's a big religion and there is Catholic influence everywhere, all over the place still, and it stayed in line pretty much with the world population for a long time now, comprising of around 50% of those that claim to be Christian are Roman Catholics. So by far the biggest Christian in inverted commas denomination and around 17% of the world's population, that's maintained for a long time now as well. So as the world population has grown so have the Catholics as well, so they haven't been left behind with that. And think of the influence that the Vatican has in those nations. When nations have like a hundred and something million Roman Catholics, believe me the Vatican has a lot of influence in those nations right. So they do still have a lot of influence and there's a lot, you know, with all sorts of things. I was looking at this before and how much actual financial influence and other things, the Vatican still has a lot of nations around the world. Now here's more food for thought as well to add to that. The Assyrians are the only one of those empires that didn't occupy Jerusalem. So the only one that didn't occupy Jerusalem are the Assyrians. But from the Babylonians onwards there is much documented Jewish influence within all of those occupying empires. Did you know that? So from Babylon onwards there's just open documented like Jewish influence at high levels of all of these empires. Now from secular sources, and I'm not just talking about like anti-Jewish sources, I don't know like Jew Watch or something or whatever these, I don't know if they still have that one, yeah but they used to have these sort of websites. I'll just leave from, you know, this is quite common knowledge. Turn to Acts 13, well I've mentioned some of these, Acts 13. So I saw like a, you know, experimental AI on Google for example said that there was a significant Jewish influence in the Babylonian empire, particularly in the area of scholarship. They consider themselves as themselves the aristocracy of the Jewish people. So like the high levels were the ones still in Babylon. With the Talmud, what's the Talmud called? The Babylonian Talmud, right? Also being written there several hundred years later, after that is the Babylonian empire sort of, you know, while it was an empire after that several hundred years after. But in the book of Daniel we see Daniel's influence in both the Babylonian and Persian kingdoms, don't we? Daniel 2 48, says of Nebuchadnezzar, then the king made Daniel a great man and gave him many great gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon. However I don't think it was just Daniel. So yeah we see Daniel being risen, you know, you know, going up the ranks there but I'm sure there are other Jews that are in power too. Obviously we see Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego getting a lot of power as well but Daniel 6 4 says of others wielding power too, it says then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. They could find none occasion nor fault for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Who were those other princes, presidents? Maybe there were some Jews scattered amongst there as well, right? At least some of the physical, you know, the physical nation. But the influence seemed to continue into the Greek empire. So even according to Wikipedia, so again not like conspiratorial things. Wikipedia claims Jews occupied administrative posts and played an important role, this is in the Greek empire, an important role in intellectual and commercial life throughout the empire. These immigrants established the city's first printing press and there's a lot of power when you get when you're involved in the printing press and the city became known as a center for commerce and learning. And then according to the article on Rome in the Jewish encyclopedia, so out of their own sort of mouths, Jews have lived in Rome for over 2,000 years longer than in any other European city. They originally went there from where? From Alexandria, which by the way is where the corrupt manuscripts come from as well. Drawn by the lively commercial intercourse between those two cities, they may even have established a community there as early as the second pre-Christian century, that's what they call it now. For in the year 139 BCE, instead of BC, but regardless, the pre-tour Hispanics issued a decree expelling all Jews who were not Roman citizens. So they've had like a, there has been some issues there as well, but there were Roman citizens, Jews that are Roman citizens high up in government and it wasn't just Rome, okay, they seem to have a lot of power and influence throughout the Roman Empire as well. So it wasn't just that they were in Rome or they moved to the capital, that influence in all these different nations. So for example, just to give you an idea of this, here in Antioch, Pisidia in Acts 1350, so this isn't the Antioch in Syria, this is Antioch, Pisidia, in Acts 1350 verse 50 there, it says, but the Jews stirred up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them out of their coast. I mean they had some influence, didn't they? They stirred up, they weren't just stirring up a few people, the devout, the honorable women, and the chief men of the city. They were able, they had influence to stir up the chief men of the city and raise persecution against Paul and Barnabas. But turn to chapter 14 of verse 2, it is the same in Iconium, where it says, but the unbelieving Jews, Acts 14 2, stirred up the gentiles and made their minds evil-affected against the brethren. Again, they were able to stir people up, they had some influence there, and then those from Antioch and Iconium were able to also influence those in Lycaonia. Acts 14 19 verse 19 there says, then there came there the certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people in having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. So again, they persuaded the people, they had influence. Jump forward to Acts 17, Acts 17, where in Thessalonica they were also able to rouse a rabble. It said in Acts 17 5, but the Jews, which believe not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the base assault, and gathered a company, and said all the city on an uproar, not just some of the city, all the city, and assaulted the house of Jacob, and sought to bring them out to the people. So they were moved with envy, and they took unto them certain lewd fellows. So basically they got the scum of the earth. You can imagine, probably like weird trannies and other like weird old freaks got involved to set the city on an uproar. They're basically like your anti-for-protesters, basically, that version of them, right? But also in Berea, look at verse 13 of Acts 17, but when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and did what? And stirred up the people. So they're able to go. They had influence all over the place. They had influence all over the empire, and of course this continued in Jerusalem too. Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 2, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. What's my point? That regardless of the world empire, perhaps Mystery Babylon continues through the influences of the world empire, which for me, I think since that first one which basically occupied Jerusalem post-Assyria, they've always had influence. And maybe that's what it's talking about with Mystery Babylon. Maybe it's the influences, and that's why it's been that same from Babylon, the original one. It's been the same influence, same influences, who've got into high positions in these empires. That once those that Isaiah was preaching so hard against within Judah, as we've seen, you know, regularly throughout this, these rejectors, the physical line rejectors, they were taken to Babylon, that they have managed to influence these world empires ever since, perhaps. Because there is a lot of, I mean, there's a lot of documented influence of these people, these people that say they're Jews and are not, but the synagogue of Satan, occupying and influencing powerful nations throughout history. 1 Thessalonians 2 says this in verse 14, For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus. For ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us, and they pleased not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins all the way, for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost. So these physical descendant Christ's rejectors, they went from being God's physical nation to his literal enemies. These are like the enemies of God and the enemies of righteousness, basically, aren't they? And isn't it like it's such a weird irony, isn't it? The people that were the physical people, these people down the road there that think that they're somehow these special people, it's actually the opposite. And especially when you get to like high-level government types and these wicked people at the top, these are literally God's enemies, yet the world thinks they're like God's special nation or something. It's just absolutely bizarre, isn't it? And it's such an irony. But it's them and their empire that the wrath is to come upon, and that is still to be ultimately fulfilled, isn't it? So with that in mind, back in Isaiah 35, what it says in verse 1, Isaiah 35, 1, the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord in the excellency of our God. So these big empires still continue with God's ultimate judgment still to come, which will result in the spiritual wildernesses, maybe you could say, eventually rejoicing. They will end up like the glory of Lebanon, Carmel, Sharon, all previously like they were abundant fruitful parts of the original allocation. I don't think Lebanon got occupied for long. It was meant to be part of the original allocation to the children of Israel. So why? Why will they be like that? Because they shall see the glory of the Lord. So talking about, for example, if you applied it to place spiritual wildernesses, let me tell you the best thing that could happen to the spiritual wilderness of, for example, North Korea will be Christ's return. His wrath will actually be the best thing to happen to North Korea, because with his wrath will be his hand stretched out still. What other chance have places like that got? What a place, right? What a place. How else is it going to work for a place like that? It's not just places like that. There's other places that are spiritual wildernesses. For example, we were talking about, because Alex has gone over to Russia, it's illegal to preach the gospel there. It's illegal to preach anything other than Orthodoxy there. That is wicked, isn't it? Look, don't get me wrong, because some people go home and there are some better things about Russia in certain areas, but you can't even preach the gospel there. That is wicked, right? That's a spiritual wilderness there. And of course, they don't even have a proper church here. You can't go out and basically convert anyone, basically, is how they would call it, from the state religion being Russian Orthodoxy. But the best thing that happened to these places will be Christ's return and his hand stretched out still. I'll tell you the best thing that happened to, for example, the spiritual wilderness of Afghanistan, where there's literally borderline zero Christians, will be God's wrath. Because we look at the wrath and think, oh, it's going to be harsh on the world and everything else. Do you know what? When God's wrath comes down and it spills out, it pours out, and then there are people preaching the gospel. There's 144,000 soul winners and there's the two witnesses preaching the gospel for the world to see. That will be the best thing to happen to those places. The spiritual wilderness of, for example, Birmingham, Bradford, Luton, the best things to happen to those Muslim enclaves, those strongholds of Islam, will be God's wrath. And then the gospel going up because, let's be honest, I don't think you're going to be doing much preaching over there, right? Is it illegal there? It probably is, isn't it, under Sharia law? Are you allowed to preach your gospel in Birmingham? I don't know. Not for long, right? Well, interestingly, all of these areas have been potentially influenced by influential false Jews to some degree. I don't want to go too conspiratorial, but there's some strange stuff around North Korea a few decades back, and there's strange stuff around all of this. Immigration policies in this nation and those that were behind those sorts of things. Same with what happened to Afghanistan more recently. Who's pulling the strings of this stuff? It's them pesky Zionists, isn't it? It's them false Jews. It's those that say they're Jews and they're not, but the synagogue of Satan. Well, the Lamb's wrath with his second coming will actually benefit those of the world, at least, who are receptive to the gospel. Because, I mean, the way it's worked on those places, I mean, I don't know, you wouldn't really fancy Seoul winning in North Korea, would you? Anyone fancy a mission trip to North Korea? Does that hand up at the back there? No, that's it. Mission's trip to Afghanistan. I mean, what on earth, right? And really because, you know, you could go, well, someone needs to preach the gospel there, but you know what? There's a lot of places that need the gospel. There's places where you can actually preach the gospel without getting killed, where people want to hear the gospel as well. But the best thing that's going to happen is when God's wrath comes, right? But for that to happen, God's people have to go through a bit of a rough patch first. So we see that and we look at it and think, oh, it's going to be a bit tough, or that tribulation looks a bit rough. But you know what? When it does come, it probably on the back of it will be a benefit to places which are probably not really going to get the gospel without that. Instead of verse three, strengthen you the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong. Fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, he will come and save you. So if you've ever been scared, okay, you've never had the adrenaline flowing the hands. Hands get a bit shaky, don't they? Ever notice that? Hands get a bit shaky. It's hard to do things when you've got that adrenaline going. You've got a bit of fear going. The knees get weak. Sometimes I don't know if you've ever had it when you've had some real fear. You can feel like they're going to buckle when it causes through your body that fear. And that's what he's talking about here. He said, strengthen you the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees. And remember that for the people of Jerusalem, so remember that's the first application here, the tribulation coming was a bunch of sadistic Assyrians. So you can imagine the hands going and the knees going. They're thinking, what on earth? We're going to be in trouble here, right? The Assyrians have rolled into town. And maybe they were thinking, God hasn't saved us yet. God said he'd deal with it and now they're here. Now they're starting to besiege us. What do we do? But for believers in the future, it will be the Antichrist, one world government. And it might take a while to get there, but when it does come, when it gets to that point, it's going to be, I'd imagine, pretty scary, right? But God came with vengeance against the Assyrians, didn't he? He came and he, like we've seen a few times now, I'm not going to go over it, go over the old grammar, 185,000 in a night, killed. Well, he will come with vengeance again in the future, won't he? But it's not the only tribulation that can happen in life. So in case you're thinking, well, maybe this will apply to us in, if it comes in our lifetime. Well, it's not the only tribulation that God will save you from, though. So look, he didn't save you, he's going to have tribulation in life. And sometimes, you know, we find it hard and we think, oh, I prayed for this or, you know, why is this happening or what's the point? Why is this going on? Because life has tribulation in it. Christian, you're a Christian, you're a believer, especially if you live godly in Christ Jesus, you shall suffer persecution. But aside from the persecution, there's different tribulation in life. You have to turn to John 16, 33, Jesus said this, these things were spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation. He didn't say you might, he said you shall. Ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Tribulations are given. You're going to get it in life, okay, it is, but you know what should also be a given? Our good cheer through it, because the Lord has already won, hasn't he? Okay, he's won and he will save us, and whether from bad situations or maybe one day he will save you from spiritual death, if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, because he's overcome the world. So you don't have to fear, you can be of good cheer, but sometimes it's kind of easier said than done. Sometimes when you're going through stuff, what on earth, but just remember that he never said you wouldn't have tribulation. He never said, well as long as you pray for each and every situation before it comes, you're never going to get, no, sometimes you're just going to have to go through some stuff. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. He said here in verse 3, strengthen you the weak hands that confirm the feeble knees, say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. So representing the unsaved getting saved, with first application being the result of God coming through for them against the Assyrians. So again, first application, that's what happened, God came through for them, he wiped out, you know, basically the Assyrian army in one night, they woke up, they were corpses, but future fulfilment being when Christ returns, okay, he's seen by all, he's punishing the earth, and what's the result of that? Like we've talked about a few times, well the Gospel is going out and people are going to be receptive, at least those that haven't taken the mark of the beast. Christ is seen by all, the heaven rolls back like a scroll, they see the Lamb of God, the wrath is coming down, the witnesses are preaching the Gospel, if there's a time to get saved it's going to be a time to be saved, right? He said here, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as in heart and the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. So that represents the Gospel and people getting saved, okay, the waters break out, the streams in the desert. In fact, you don't have to turn it, John 7 38 says, he that believeth on me, as the scripture said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. So, represented the Holy Spirit working through that person to get others saved. And here he said, then shall the lame man leap as in heart and a tongue of the dumb sing. So these are people that maybe weren't preaching the Gospel, these are maybe people that get saved and now they're going to sing this tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out streams in the desert. The picture is the Gospel going out, the picture is of the Word of God being preached and the Holy Spirit being a part of that, obviously representing that waters breaking out. And as with the rest of this, okay, two fulfillments, the initial being the results of the victory over the Assyrians, okay, so what happened on the back of that, people were getting saved, I'd imagine en masse after seeing God coming through for his people. That has been amazing, absolutely amazing. Not just for those in Jerusalem, but those on the outside knowing, when like 185,000 troops roll into town, usually like that sort of news spreads as well, okay. They usually have to, well they've come quite a long way as well, right. So you've got 185,000 troops come and then next thing you know there is dead corpses. I mean, what a way for God to be glorified. And on the back of that it was promised, the Word of God said that would happen and that's a good time to go, right, okay, I'm ready to trust the Lord, right. So there was that. But true fulfilment, and sorry, on the back of that people are getting saved and then you've got the righteous Hezekiah's reign as well. So with that, under Hezekiah's reign, I'm sure the Gospel was going out, I'm sure great things were happening post this amazing victory over the Assyrians. But true fulfilment is when Christ returns and the Gospel is being preached all over the world. And although the Gospel is everlasting, okay, it will be, it is obviously going to be there in the millennial reign. I believe that this is still talking of God's wrath though. So you could look at this and go, oh yeah, it's talking about the millennial reign, but I don't know, I think it's talking about during God's wrath. Look at verse four, it says, say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not, behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a record pencil will come and save you. So this is talking to those obviously, you know, in the picture being of those going through the tribulation. Then, okay, so God comes with vengeance, with a recompense, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leapers and heart and the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. So with perhaps the focus on the wilderness and the desert also being places maybe where people are able to flee from the beast system. We talked about that a bit where they'll be, you know, there will be places to flee, not just for those during the tribulation that are saved, but also for those that aren't. Look, there are still people that are going to be ruled and reigned over during the millennial reign. We saw, yeah, of course there'll be many people die, we saw a third wiped out by that sixth Trump in that sixth Trump, but still there are still people remaining and not everyone is going to take that mark, otherwise they're all done, and there's no one to rule and reign over, and then if everyone's just glorified body, and that's it, firstly, why do the witnesses come? Why are the two witnesses there if there's no one to witness to, barring reprobates? And thirdly, well, how on earth would there be some sort of rebellion a thousand years in the future, because that can't be by those ruling and reigning, because they've got glorified, sinless bodies. So there are, there is going to be a population of rule and reign over, and he said, he said, then shall the layman leap his own heart in the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness shall waters break out of streams in the desert. So perhaps, you know, aside from the spiritual application to that, maybe just places which are kind of remote, where you're able to flee from, he said in verse seven, flee to, sorry, in verse seven, he said, in the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water, in the habitation of dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes. So again, you can apply it by physically uninhabited areas, like I said, places where people are able to get away from, you know, from cities, towns, things where it's going to be much harder to avoid the bee system, whereas there are still some pretty remote places, there's a place in the world where, especially if it was in the near future, you can't see the infrastructure being there to operate that, you can see a black market still operating and things like that. Well, also though spiritually, you could say places which were as well, and some of these places were previously false religious places, weren't they? And some of these areas and places, there'll be a lot of false religion there, there's habitation of dragons, if you want to apply it spiritually, but they will become good places to be, good places to go to, places to flee to. He said, and an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those. The wayfaring men though fools, shall not err therein. So this is why I believe that it's still during God's wrath. There's this highway, this way, this way of holiness. What is the way? It's a straight and narrow way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. John 14 6, Jesus says unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the father but by me. That's the way, isn't it? That's the way of holiness. He said the unclean shall not pass over it, but then, then he said, but it shall be for those. Because whilst unclean, they can't pass over it. But as Paul said to the saved in 1 Corinthians 6 and 11, you don't have to turn there, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. So it's for the unclean who specifically, the wayfaring men or the traveling, the journeying men, I think it's saying here. He said the unclean shall not pass over it, middle of verse 8, but it shall be for those. The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein, which is to error. So I believe that these are those that were trying to maybe escape the one world government, that left the towns, left the cities. Yeah, they were fools, they should have just got saved, you know. So they're like trying to escape, trying to get where they can, but they won't err in this. They're not going to err in this. He said the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those. They need to get clean and get saved. The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. So these people, these wayfaring, these traveling people, these people escaping, that aren't just sitting in the cities taking the mark, getting involved with the beach system, they're not going to err in this. He said that an highway shall be there in a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. That's salvation. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those. The wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. So I believe that saying that that way will be there for those still able, for those that haven't taken the mark. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. So the lion and ravenous beast picturing the wicked. Turn to Psalm 10, just a few of many examples of this. Psalm 10, there's just a few that are pretty close together, so I thought I'd show you a few of these. So he said no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. Talking about this way, this way of holiness, which is salvation. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. So the devil and his children regularly being likened to lions. There's many famous scripts about the devil, you know, as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour. But Psalm 10, it's not just him, it's also his children as well. Verse 7 says this, Psalm 10 says, his mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud. Under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages. In the secret places doth he murder the innocent, his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth and waits secretly as a lion, in his den. So again, as a lion, they're compared to like lions, waiting secretly, lurking in their dens. He lieth in wait to catch the poor. He doth catch the poor when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by strong ones. So it's a fake humbling. They humble themselves to attack. Go to Psalm 17, see another example. The 17th Psalm and verse 12. Psalm 17 12 says this, like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Again, it's lurking, lurking, stalking, predatory behavior, being a big feature as well as their ferociousness with their mouths. Psalm 22, Psalm 22 and verse 13 says this from verse 11. Look from verse 11. Psalm 22 verse 11 says, be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. So we see it's their mouths, and that's the lies, the slander, the insults, the mockery, the scorning. That's what it's talking about here. Back in Isaiah 35 and verse 9, it's talking about the devil's children. He said, no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there. On it shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. You have to turn a bit. 2 Peter 2 12 says of those false prophet infiltrator types, but these as natural brute beasts compared to animals, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption. With sodomites, for example, likened to dogs, to pigs. These people are ravenous animals, various false prophets. They're described, they're likened to animals, natural brute beasts. Here we saw, no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast, because they're hungry. They want to devour. They just love any opportunity to turn people aside, to sow seeds of doubt, in various ways. Isaiah said that they won't pass on that highway. Let me tell you, translation, they ain't getting saved. That's what he's saying. Like an Olympic, God says that there are people that can't be saved. People have such issue with it. It's always strange to be a believer. If you're a believer, you're saved. You've put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why take such issue with, for me, something, if you listen to it talk clearly, it's pretty clear in scripture, isn't it? I always wonder about the people that take such issue with it, don't you? It's like, what's the problem? Maybe a little bit soddy, you think? Maybe there's something like that that's making them a little bitter. Oh no, this can't be true. This is as clear a passage as many, right? But when you understand it, then you start to see it other places, don't you? He said, no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast. No, he's not just talking about the animals here. This is pictures here. This is representing false prophets. He says, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there on. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. So those redeemed or those bought with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish, without spot. He said in verse 10, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing, shall flee away. So which is perhaps those already raptured returning to rule and reign with Christ and being the ones that shall return, perhaps. And he said, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. And then, what is it? It's joy and gladness with the sorrow and sighing, fleeing away. Now turn to Joel 3, Joel chapter 3. Joel was likely around at the same time as Isaiah, perhaps in Isaiah's earlier days at least. He seemed to probably be prophesying around the time of Isaiah, the king of Isaiah, but Joel also prophesied at the end times to him. He said it like this in Joel 3, in Joel chapter 3 and verse 13. Joel 3 says this, put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come get ye down for the press is full, the fats overflow for their wickedness is great. Talking about that rapture and obviously those that are left behind there, the unsaved. He said multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem and the heavens and the earth shall shake, but the Lord will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy and there shall no strangers pass through her anymore. No strangers passing through Jerusalem. It will be a place for the Lord and for his redeemed. Isaiah said in verse 9, no lion shall be there nor any ravenous beast. No, we're not going to have those, not going to have those strangers, we're not going to have those thieves, we're not going to have those fakes there. He said no lion shall be there nor any ravenous beast shall go up there, on it shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. Well, sorry, stay in Joel 3 because it said in verse 18 of Joel 3, and it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine and the hills shall flow with milk and the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittim. So Shittim being across Jordan in Moab, I think the image being the gospel going to the nations, so that's kind of on the outside, across Jordan, Moab being, you know, the first of the nations. So he said that the waters of the fountain shall come forth and shall water the valley of Shittim. Verse 19, Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah because they have shed innocent blood in their land. So Egypt, the world, Edom, represented the children of the flesh like we've seen, like we've talked about, the children of the flesh being those that say they're Jews and are not but the synagogue of Satan because there is no more physical nation anymore. Verse 20 said but Judah, that's the saved, shall dwell forever in Jerusalem from generation to generation for I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed for the Lord dwelleth in Zion. So that's the time to come and it will be a glorious time. The wicked won't be in Zion anymore from where we will rule and reign with Christ. Verse 9 says this, no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found, back in Isaiah 35, it shall not be found, but the redeemed shall walk there and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness as so and so shall flee away. So Isaiah says it almost verbatim, by the way, in Isaiah 51-11 where he said, therefore, if you look at verse 10, he said this in Isaiah 51-11, same subject, therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. So sorrow, mourning, sighing, fleeing away, disappearing, being a theme of the millennial reign and beyond. And I don't know about you but I like reading stuff like that because it's nice to see sometimes, isn't it? You don't have to turn there, Revelation 7-17, being one of many places where it says, for the land which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains and walks and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. I'm looking forward to that, I don't know about you, I'm looking forward to that. A time that I think probably everyone's looking forward to. Now, with that in mind, turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Before that, for that to come, there has to be some hard times. For all of that to come, there has to be some tough times, there has to be some pain for those that go through the tribulation, for those that get saved during God's wrath. Most believers through history won't be there during the great tribulation, will they? The most believers throughout history, they're already sleeping, but we are going to have tribulation in our lives. So whether or not we make it, whether or not it happens in our lifetimes or not, we're going to have some tribulation. And that's life, isn't it? Life is full of tribulation, it's hard sometimes, it's tiring, it's painful, and we have a lot of pain in life. You know, at various times we get tired, life can be hard, but I think, you know, for me the message here is don't give up. I don't give up, yeah, because sometimes you feel like that sometimes, don't you? You feel like it would be easier, you know, life would be easier if I wasn't doing this, life would be easier if I wasn't serving God, life would be easier if I wasn't in church, life would be easier if I wasn't doing X, Y and Z, life would be easier, but it wouldn't, personally. Life is full of tribulation anyway. You walk down the road and you see, you know, that sinful and adulterous generation out there we talked about on Sunday, and they're all going through various tribulations. And you pull out the things of God, you're still going to go through tribulation. Don't quit on God, press toward the mark for the prize that I call you God in Christ Jesus, right? Keep serving God, because there's eternity awaiting, isn't there? It's awaiting and there's a glorified body, and that eternity looks great, doesn't it? And wouldn't it be great to look back in that eternity, look back at that millennial reign and go, yeah, I gave it a good shot. Yeah, look, you're not going to go back, I gave everything I could. Is there anyone that's going to go, I don't know, I wouldn't have done one thing differently. I mean, that would be a bit weird. But however, it'd be nice to look back and go, I gave it a good crack. I had a good go of it, yeah, I carried on, I kept the faith, I carried on running the course, and I kept going till the end. I carried on preaching the gospel, I carried on serving God, I carried on in church, I carried on doing, yeah, I had some tough times, I had some tribulation, but I carried on. 1 Corinthians 15 says this in verse 54, verse 54 says, So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, here we go, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It's not in vain, is it? It's not in vain. And at the end of it all, he's going to wipe away those tears. We're not going to have to deal with all those weirdos anymore. It's going to be great, isn't it? No more, no more reps, no more false prophets, no more dealing with wicked people, no more sods, no more like we're in the high street today, young men walking past in miniskirts, no more of that. That's going to be good, isn't it? No more like people preaching false gospels and having to grit your teeth and not let the flesh take over and turn it physical and then realize that actually there's a lot more of them than us. Probably wouldn't be a good idea. No more of that anymore. Just glory living with the Lord, ruling and reigning with the Lord. We've got that thousand years and then you've just got eternity to come. And it's not in vain because there are so many people that we can at least give that opportunity to take that. But, you know, life can feel tough sometimes, right? Life can feel a bit daunting. You can feel a bit like, how am I going to get through this? This is tiring. How am I going to get through this next bit? But he does help you through it. He's there to help us. We get through it and knowing what awaits, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord, knowing that these promises are true, knowing that we're seeing picture after picture of not just the wrath, not just the rough stuff, not just the tribulation, but also of glory that awaits. He said in verse 10 back in Isaiah 35, he said, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. That's to come. It's not actually that far away. Every year it gets quicker and quicker, doesn't it? Let's do our best while we can. The message for me there in that chapter, we're seeing that, yeah, there's going to be some rough times and that has to happen, but then eventually it's going to be bliss. On that, we're going to finish. Thank you, Lord, for the promises that we just keep seeing in the Book of Isaiah, Lord and elsewhere in the Word of God as we compare it and knowing that, you know, glory awaits knowing that the millennial reign, Lord, is still to come and, you know, those promises are sure and we know that they're not going to fail, Lord, and help us while we're here to remind ourselves that to set our sights, our affections on things above, Lord, and not on the things of the earth, help us to just keep pressing on, keep pressing forward, to just keep being strengthened, allowing you to strengthen us, Lord, having our faith in you and your promises and everything you promise this is going to happen, Lord, and help us to keep just getting people saved, keep serving you, keep working, Lord, not give up, knowing that you are there to strengthen us, you are there to uphold us, Lord, with the right hand of your righteousness. Help us to get home safe for Santa's evening, Lord, keep you at the centre of the rest of our week, Lord, and to return on Sunday for, you know, the Sunday services, the sowing in between, Lord, help us to just keep serving you and just don't pray. Amen.